I think this is one of my strongest and longest lasting albums. It covers my obsession with the ups and downs of the drug culture. Coincidentally it was my least commercially successful record ever made. Neil Young Decade liner notes 1977

[prior to playing Tonight's The Night for the second time this evening] We'll play a song now you've heard before ladies and gentlemen. This is it. A song you've heard before. Neil Young Palace Theatre, Manchester, England November 3, 1973

[prior to playing Tonight's The Night for the second time that evening] I'd like to do a song that you've heard before. I hope that someday it's one of your old favorites. Neil Young Music Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, USA November 16, 1973

BS: The title song, one of the album's most jagged and discomforting, tells the story of Bruce Berry, a friend of Young's who - the lyric states - "died, out on the mainline". Who was he? NY: Bruce Berry was a roadie - he used to take care of Steve's (Steve Stills) and my guitars and amps. BS: That line about his dying comes out and just hits you, someone noted. NY: Yeah … those mixes were a little unorthodox. Like it's real music. Sometimes I'd be on mic and sometimes I'd be two feet off it. Sometimes I'd be lookin' around the room and singin' back off mic … we'd have to bring it way back up in the mix to get it. And you can hear the echo in the room. We were all on stage at SIR just playing, with the PA system and everything, just like a live thing. NY: I got tired of … I think what was in my mind when I made that record was I just didn't feel like a lonely figure with a guitar or whatever it is that people see me as sometimes. I didn't feel that laid back – I just didn't feel that way. So I thought I'd just forget about all that … wipe it out. Be as aggressive and as abrasive as I could to leave an effect, a long-term effect, that things change radically sometimes, it's good to point that out. Neil Young Bud Scoppa/NME June 1975

[Tonight's The Night mid-song rap] Bruce Berry was a working man He used to load that Econoline van And late at night And late at night when the people where gone, he used to pick up my guitar I listened to him play all night like that. He didn't play hot licks all night. Sometimes he'd sit down and sing something real, you know. We didn't see him for couple weeks then. Oh, time passed by. Bruce came back one day. He said, "Hey man, do you need somebody to work for you man? "I don't know bro." "Roadie to riches" I say, "Wait a minute though. Wait a minute. Didn't you lose, uh, didn't you lose David's guitar man? You lost David's guitar. You lost David's guitar man. You never lost anybody's guitar in a long time. You worked for us a long time. You never lost any guitars of ours." "Well, I don't know man. It was just in the back of the station-wagon. I left it in the back for just, like, five minutes. I went inside, you know. Thought everything was cool, man. I came out and the guitar was gone. I don't know what happened there. The guitar was gone." "I'm sorry man. "I'm sorry man. You can't work for us man. I'm sorry, you can't work for us. You lost David's guitar. You lost his guitar, man. That's his axe. What else is there other than that?" "You mean after all the time I've spent with you, man. Years and years, man. That just losing one guitar, man - is uh - you mean I'm fired because I lost one guitar (I've lost three guitars). I've been working with you four years. This is real man! I've been working with you four years!" "I'm sorry man. That's the way it is. I mean you lost David's guitar. People let me tell you It sent a chill up and down my spine When I picked up the telephone And heard that he'd died out on the mainline Neil Young Rainbow Theatre, London, England November 5, 1973

[Tonight's The Night mid-song rap] And one day Bruce was picking up the guitars for the band. That's what Bruce did. He carried around the instruments and made sure that everything was working good. And one day he showed up in a station wagon and walked up to my friend David and he says, "I lost your guitar, man. I lost your guitar, man. I left it in the station wagon, but it ... when I came back it was gone. When I came back it was gone. I don't know what happened." There wasn't too much work for Bruce. One day he came looking for work and he says, "I'd like a job, I'd like a job. I'm ready to work for you guys. You got everything together, man? I'd like to take care of your guitars for you." So we looked at him and we said, "I'm sorry man. Can't do it. I mean, you lost David's guitar and you don't know what happened to the guitar ... it was gone. You lost his guitar, man. I mean, it's his axe. That was it. You lost it." "You took that guitar - you put it in your arm!" Neil Young Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England November 6, 1973

[Tonight's The Night mid-song rap] Bruce Berry was a working man. He used to load guitars. He used to load that Econoline van. He used to put the strings on my guitars. Every night when the hall was clean. We'd arrive at the hall. Bruce Berry was a working man. He used to tune guitars and have them waiting for me there. Pick up my guitar [unintelligible]. Thank you Bruce. Man, that's not bad. My guitar's well in tune. My guitar's in tune, Bruce. That's good. I'm ready for those people now, man. It was tuned already. Days were good, you know, days were good. Traveling alone. All around the United States. We'd travel from town to town [unintelligible] James Brown and the Famous Flames. Travelin' around from town to town [unintelligible]. Make sure the guitar is all right. Because I want to play tonight, so make sure my guitar's all right, will you Bruce? Tune it up, will you? [unintelligible] Just tune it, Bruce. Tune my guitar right up [unintelligible]. You know, the times are changing. Time for us to get on the road. We've been together too long, man. Bruce, you want to go get a job for a little while, man. Maybe a couple years. We'll be together. We will, man! We'll be all right. I don't know, man. Why don't you work for, uh, work for Stephen, man. Have a good time. Have a good time. So you know that time passes, and it's a couple years, and everything is in the past. Bruce is [unintelligible]. What happened Bruce ... what happened to ... what happened to my guitar, man? I know you put it in the station wagon. My guitar, man, where's my guitar, Bruce? You never lost my guitar before, man. Why'd you have to ...? You lost it, man! You lost my axe, man. I'm a musician first, a [unintelligible] second. [unintelligible] my axe and now it's gone. Stripped naked, naked, nak-ed. [unintelligible]. What happened to it, man? Bruce, where's my guitar, man? It's time man and I'm waiting. I'm waiting for it. I'm waiting, man. Where is it, man? Nooo ... no ... no ... no ... no ... no ... noo ... noooo ... noooo ... noo! What do you mean, man? Did you put it in your arm, man? [unintelligible] pawnshop. Bruce Berry was a working man. He used to load that Econoline van. He used to load that Econoline van. Just about the .. Just about the break of day And sleep until the afternoon Sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, sleeping, [unintelligible] Bruce Berry was a working man. He used to load that Econoline van. Sparkle was in his eye. But his life was in hand And late at night he used to pick up my guitar Neil Young Auditorium Theater, Chicago, Illinois, USA November 20, 1973

What we were doing was playing those guys on the way. We all got that high – not that high, but we got as close as we could, without doing it. I mean, I’m not a junkie and I won’t even try it out to check out what it’s like, But we’d get really high’ – drink a lot of tequila, get right out on the edge, where we knew we were so screwed up that we could easily just fall on our faces, and not be able to handle it as musicians. But we were wide open also at that time – just wide open. Because you know how you feel when you got it. So we’d just wait until the middle of the night and get like that and just do it. We did four or five songs on the first side all in a row one night, without any break. We did ‘Tonight’s the Night’, ‘World on a String’, ‘Mellow My Mind’, ‘Speakin’ Out’, and ‘Tired Eyes’ without any break between ’em, we just changed the order. We’d wait till the vibe hit us. Neil Young Creem/Bud Scoppa November 1975